Medical or hormone therapies

The use of hormone therapy to reduce fibroids is a temporary measure. It is never a permanent treatment.

It is used short periods to decrease the symptoms before the operation or for women who are close to reaching the menopause.

Medical treatments

Medical treatments for uterine fibroids may include prescribing:

Iron if the patient is anaemic

Procoagulants (Tranexamic acid)

Ibuprofen

To reduce blood loss

Progestogen-releasing IUD

Hormonal therapies

The symptoms of the fibroids may also be eased using hormones.

GnRH analogues: the use of these hormones to reduce fibroids provokes an artificial menopause with all the associated symptoms (hot flushes, loss of calcium from the bones, loss of sex drive, mood swings, etc.). These may be taken during a period of 6 to 12 months.

Progesterone, oestrogen and contraceptive pills: they may decrease the bleeding but they will not reduce the fibroids.

Selective progesterone receptor modulators (ulipristal acetate, ESMYA® ) are as effective in reducing the size of fibroids as GnRH analogues, but they have less side-effects.